The Otaku Culture

The rising popularity of anime and manga has given birth to a fervent devotion to the media formats: the otaku (オタク – which is Japanese slang for an obsessive person, or geek). Covered within are different aspects of the otaku culture, from figures and toys to odd promotional items and cosplay.

Arby’s joins the ranks of fast food companies with awesome social media campaigns (including Wendy’s sassy Twitter posts). The sandwich chain uses their food and packaging to recreate various pop culture scenes from video games, anime, television shows and more. Here’s a selection of some of their most recent anime and video game posts from Facebook.

Figure manufacturer and distributor Good Smile Company unveiled the designs for three new Yuri!!! on Ice characters for its Nendoroid series. The concept art shows Victor Nikiforov in his coach outfit and the casual styles worn by Yuri Katsuki and Yuri Plisetsky.

The hit ice skating anime Yuri!!! on Ice is the latest series to join Funko’s Pop! vinyl figure line-up this October.

Four figures, each in their skating outfits, were unveiled: Yuri Katsuki (Yuri), Yuri Plisetsky (Yurio), and two of Victor Nikiforov (Victor and Young Victor). Yuri is dressed in his eros costume, with Yurio in his agape attire, the fanciful uniform Victor wears for his free skate, and in his younger form, donning a crown of blue roses, and a gold medal around his neck.

Unlike most Pop! figures, these will stand on rounded plastic bases to show the detail of their ice skates.

The Ice Tiger of Russia from ice skating anime Yuri!!! on Ice now comes as a miniature-format figure. Joining Yuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov is Yuri Plisetsky as part of the Good Smile Company’s Nendoroid line.

Yuri (or Yurio as he’s affectionately called to differentiate from the other Yuri) is dolled up in his silver outfit he wears during his Agape performance. Also included are three interchangeable facial expressions (agape, sour and shocked), katsudon piroshky, and a pair of cat ears from he obtained during scene at the Rostelecom Cup.

These final images of Yurio were posted on Good Smile’s Kahotan blog. Yuri Plisetsky, when purchased through the Good Smile Company web site, will ship with a special rubber strap. He goes on sale Tuesday, July 25th, 2017.

It’s time to lace up your skates and hit the ice with the star of YURI!!! on Ice with Yuri Katsuki! He’s the latest in Good Smile Company’s line of collectible Nendoroid mini figures.

Yuri wears the black with silver trimmed outfit from his Eros performance, choreographed by his coach, Victor Nikiforov. This costume was also worn by Victor before on the ice.

Each Nendoroid comes with accessories and are interchangeable with other Nendoroid figures. Included are three different facial expressions: his seductive face from his Eros recital, a happy expression, and one of embarrassment. Yuri also comes with two hair styles — one that’s slicked back and the other tousled. Even he can’t stay away from his favourite food: a bowl of steaming hot katsudon (pork cutlet with egg over rice), complete with tiny chopsticks.

Plus, there’s a bonus — a small rubber charm featuring the likeness of Yuri, but only if purchased through Good Smile Company’s online shop.

Even though the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics are three years away, get ready to see more the sporting event’s ambassadors as they showcase the host city’s facilities and attractions. These ambassadors might look familiar — they’re popular anime characters!

Each lamp is hand-made using recycled wood, black paint, a light bulb, and a centrepiece item, in this case the Dragon Ball Z characters are positioned in such a way that the lamp appears as a well-coordinated attack.

Of course, there’s not just Goku and his friends; there’s also a lamp featuring Sailor Moon with the bulb placed over the sailor soldier like her namesake lunar satellite.

However, these awesome and fully functional lights don’t come cheap as they range between $140 and $167 CAD ($99 – $125 USD) in price. But they do ship internationally!

Hatsune Miku, the virtual turquoise-pigtail singer from Japan, will be performing in concert as part of Miku Expo which will travel through Canada, the United States and Mexico in 2016.

Miku, a sixteen year-old computer-generated vocal synthesizer created by Crypton Future Media, has generated a massive following not only in her native Japan, but around the world. While she is not “human”, a creative graphical setup allows Miku to be projected in a 3D environment to sing and interact with the crowd wherever she goes. Miku has stood on stage with Lady Gaga and Pharrell Williams and even guest-starred on television with David Letterman!

Seattle, WA at the WaMu Theater on Saturday, April 23rd, 2016

San Francisco, CA at The Warfield on Saturday, April 30th, 2016

Los Angeles, CA at the Microsoft Theater on Friday, May 6th, 2016

Dallas, TX at The Bomb Factory on Saturday, May 14th, 2016

Toronto, ON at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts on Friday, May 20th, 2016

New York City, NY at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday, May 28th, 2016

The wide-world of anime-related merchandise just wouldn’t be complete without Ramune. Over the years, the alien-looking glass bottles have been decorated with labels from Pokémon and One Piece. Last spring, Viz Media added Naruto-themed bottles to that list.

Though Viz Media posted a list of retailers that sold the drink in North America to their Facebook, the Canadian locations were limited to one vendor, JFC International (Canada) Inc., the company handling the distribution in both Vancouver and Toronto.

I lucked out as the Konbiniya Japanese Centre on Robson Street had started stocking them. I grabbed an armful as each bottle bore a different design. There’s Naruto battling Sasuke, Naruto with rasengan, a partial Team Seven with Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi, and group shot of Naruto and his fellow ninjas. Aside from the colourful labels there’s nothing different about the pop inside which still has the classic bubble gum flavour.

Same flavour, different bottle.

For those unfamiliar with Ramune, it’s a Japanese carbonated soft drink sold little glass bottles that are sealed by a glass marble. A plastic plunger is attached to allow the marble to be pushed in so the contents can be consumed. To allow the liquid to flow, the bottle’s neck is pinched so that the marble can rest, sort of resembling the face of an alien when viewed from a specific angle. There are a variety of flavours, but bubble gum is the most common.

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